Beane's Thinking Akin to Christian Wisdom

In his book Moneyball, Michael Lewis tells the story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, and how he built a winning team by throwing out "conventional wisdom" and evaluating players according to standards considered foolish by generations of baseball executives. Drawing upon the research of Bill James and the practice of his predecessor Sandy Alderson, Beane has no interest in a player's batting average; he considers a batter's on-base percentage a much better indicator of his value. Amazingly, Beane believes the single most important offensive statistic is how many times a batter is walked.

At first glance this seems to defy baseball logic. A batter doesn't even get credit for an at-bat in which he draws a walk--statistically it is considered a non-contribution. (Hence it doesn't even show up in a batting average.) A walk is considered a pitcher's mistake, not the result of a batter's skill. (Early box scores even designated walks as an error on the pitcher.) "Conventional wisdom" says that players are paid to swing the bat, not stand there watching pitches sail by.

That's what the "baseball world" would have us believe. Billy Beane believes differently, and his way of thinking makes sense. The point of an offense is to score runs. To score runs a batter needs to get on base, To get on base a batter needs to develop a keen eye that can discern pitches in the strike zone from pitches outside the strike zone. To develop this discerning eye, a batter needs to see a lot of pitches. To see a lot of pitches, a batter needs to take a lot of pitches. The more pitches a batter sees, the more discerning his eye becomes. The more discerning a batter's eye, the more likelihood he will turn good pitches into base hits, and reach base on a walk by recognizing when a pitch is outside the strike zone.

The only way all of this will happen is if a batter learns to discipline himself and take more pitches. This way the batter, not the pitcher, takes control of the strike zone, and a walk becomes the batter's accomplishment more than the pitcher's mistake. (Not to mention the more pitches you can force a pitcher to throw, the sooner you will wear him out.)

That is why for years in the Oakland A's organization, minor league batters have been expected to get at least one walk in every ten at-bats, and Alderson and Beane have watched each of their minor league team's walk totals, leaning on mangers whose teams are not walking enough.

Following Jesus Christ is very much like this--accepting Jesus' wisdom which often seems to contradict the "wisdom" of the world. But the results are indisputable--and if you think about Jesus' teachings long enough, they just make sense!

As we approach a new year, may we all resolve to live by Jesus' wisdom--not what the world presents as wise.

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

If God Seems Distant, Think of Nick Swisher

I received Michael Lewis' book Moneyball as a Christmas gift. I've found this volume fascinating not only for its tremendous insights into baseball strategy, but for the many spiritual parallels I've discovered. Lewis tells the story of Billy Beane, the brilliant general manager of the Oakland A's. Beane built a winning franchise primarily by drafting players who, according to "conventional wisdom," seemed to lack the necessary tools to play Major League Baseball. His general strategy and its spiritual lessons will be the subject of my next post--but this one revolves around his calculated pursuit of Nick Swisher.

When the current Yankee outfielder was playing college ball at Ohio State, Beane had heard about him and very much wanted to watch him play in person. But Beane's scouting staff convinced him that Oakland's best shot at landing Swisher was to have Beane stay away from him.

By this time Billy Beane had established himself as one of the premier evaluators of baseball talent. If word got out that he was interested in Nick Swisher, the other clubs ahead of the A's in the draft would be gunning to get him first. So in order to protect Swisher from his competitors and get him into his own fold, Beane had to keep his distance and appear not to be interested--even though he desperately wanted Swisher in an Oakland uniform. The strategy paid off, and Beane drafted Swisher with the 16th pick in the first round.

This episode can serve as a reminder in times when it may seem God is distant or no longer involved in our lives. God is always intensely interested in us and longing to have us in his fold--he is madly in love with us. Everything happens for a reason, and when there are times when God may appear distant there is a reason for that as well--just as Billy Beane had a reason for keeping his distance from his coveted draft pick.

Anyone feeling such distance is in good company. Mother Teresa told her spiritual director that for decades she felt a distance from God--a dryness in her spiritual life. St. John of the Cross wrote that it is often in those times that God is doing his greatest work in us, even though we don't sense it.

Perhaps one reason for God's seeming distance is to increase our desire for him. Writing about Billy Beane's calculated distance from Nick Swisher, Michael Lewis uses almost cryptic Scriptural imagery. The Scriptures repeatedly speak of God as a bridegroom and his people as his bride. Lewis writes that Beane's strategy had some strange effects: "One of them [was] to lead Billy to speak of Swisher in the needy tone of a man who has been restrained for too long from seeing his beloved. Swisher is his picture bride."

So if it seems that God is distant, remember Nick Swisher--and remember that God loves us more than we'll ever understand, and everything--even spiritual dryness--has a purpose in his holy will.

Christmas A Fitting Time To Celebrate Sports

With all due respect to Ralphie Parker, a football does make a good Christmas present.

So does anything else that would help a Christian disciple reflect on the birth of the greatest athlete ever. No, this is not a trivialization or further commercialization of Christmas. It is another way to proclaim the true meaning of this sacred season.

God came to earth in human flesh so he could sacrifice it for our salvation. The gates of heaven would be forever locked unless Jesus Christ--fully God and fully human--took our sins upon himself and redeemed us through his passion, death and resurrection. In order for this to happen Jesus himself had to be a tremendous athlete. The endurance of his passion was the single greatest athletic feat of all time, and the prize he won is shared by all who are joined to him.

All athletes sacrifice their bodies for others. Athletes who belong to the Body of Christ make their sacrifices in and through that same body. It is the coming of that saving body to earth that we celebrate at Christmas. Reflecting on the strong Christian identity of sports is a fitting addition to the celebration.

So whether it be a football or another piece of athletic equipment, may any such gift be a reminder of the gift to humanity that was the greatest athlete and his equipment--Jesus and his cross.

"Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one." (1 Corinthians 9:25)

Merry Christmas!

Do Unto Refs As You Would Have Them Do Unto You

It's amazing how some inappropriate behavior that would not be tolerated in "real life" is somehow considered normal and acceptable in the world of sports. Consider this example:

Imagine going to work every day and having a stranger watch your every move. This person has no responsibility for evaluating your job performance. They are not your boss or a co-worker--this person is a total stranger. But every day when you go to work this anonymous person is there watching you. Every time you make a mistake--or every time they think you made a mistake--this person begins screaming at you.

"Come on, cashier! You gave that guy the sale price, why don't you give it to her! Be consistent!"

"It's about time you noticed that error, accountant! Decimal points, for crying out loud!"

"Weeds, landscaper, weeds! Do you even know what they look like?! Come on, get some glasses!"

What would you do if this happened to you at your work place? Most likely you wouldn't stand for it. You would make sure this person was escorted off the premises, possibly in the company of law enforcement authorities.

Yet if your job is officiating sports, this happens to you every time you go to work. There is always an anonymous stranger (often more than one) with no responsibility to evaluate you, who screams criticism at you with impunity. And it's considered a normal part of your work environment (though it would not be tolerated anywhere else.)

I'm working to promote a new holiday, along the lines of "Take Your Child To Work Day." It's called "Let A Sports Official Scream At You At Your Work Day." It goes like this: Any sports official who has ever had someone loudly and publicly critique their job performance gets to go to the work place of anyone who has ever done this and do the same to them

I'm not getting very far with this campaign. It seems that no one wants this to happen to them. (Hmm.) "Let A Sports Official Scream At You At Your Work Day" is a ridiculous idea--just as ridiculous as someone screaming criticism at officials from the stands.

Love your neighbor as yourself--always. We need to resist the temptation to leave our faith at the turnstile when we attend a sporting event, as if this is somehow not part of our "faith life." We live every moment as children of God--interacting with other children of God--and we have to work on making every moment of our lives reflect this this beautiful fact.

A Message from the Church of Basketball

“Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” (Psalm 84:11)

Maybe the hardwood isn’t what the Psalmist had in mind, but God does have a lot to teach us between the baselines.

Consider the case of Ben Wallace. The Detroit Pistons signed their former center this season primarily to add veteran leadership to a young roster. As far as playing time he was signed to back up starter Kwame Brown. Yet during a victory over Philadelphia earlier this season, head coach John Keuster saw how much Wallace could still contribute on the floor. “I knew Ben was going to be an asset this season because he’d be able to teach our bigs,” Keuster said. “I never imagined he could have this kind of impact on the court.”

His comment was about a game in which Wallace scored two points.

So what was his great impact? An astounding sixteen rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Big Ben’s aggressive rebounding and defense combined with Detroit’s more productive scorers to put the Sixers on ice.

There’s a pretty good spiritual lesson here. How many kids playing basketball dream about grabbing rebounds, making assists, setting picks, or finding an open teammate? About as many who dream of extra math homework. Their focus, of course, is more on double-digit point totals, making the far-away jumper at the buzzer, and dazzling offensive moves. Yet as Ben Wallace proves, a player who scores only two points can be just as valuable—or maybe even more so—than double-digit shooters if he can learn to rebound, defend and perform all the other less glamorous tasks needed to win.

Former Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps observes that while a certain amount of skill is required to play offense, only heart and determination are needed to be a good defensive player. Regardless of natural talent, anyone with desire can excel at defense, which is a crucial component of the game.

If St. Paul were coaching basketball, he might paraphrase his first letter to the Corinthians:

“A team is not a single player or effort, but many. If an aggressive defender should say, ‘Because I am not a proficient scorer I do not belong to the team,’ he does not for this reason belong any less to the team. The player driving for a lay-up cannot say to his teammate who just set a pick, ‘I do not need you.’ The player taking a three-point shot cannot say to his teammate boxing out for a rebound, ‘I do not need you.’ But as it is, God places the players, each one of them, in the team as he intended. If they all excelled at the same thing, where would the team be?” (Based on 1 Corinthians 12:14-21)

We can fall into the same trap in our lives as Christians, feeling that we do not measure up to our seemingly more accomplished teammates. Author and speaker Fr. Larry Richards notes that many Catholics looking to the saints as role models see lives of perfection, and become disillusioned when their own lives don’t seem to measure up. “We fail to see the humanity in the saints, and forget that they had their struggles and failures with sin as well,” he says. “People will talk to me about wanting to be another Francis or another Teresa. I tell them, ‘You’re not called to be Francis or Teresa--you’re called to be you. What is God calling YOU to do?”

So you may have scored only two points. Where else have you contributed in your unique, gifted, and irreplaceable way?

Tiger's Troubles a Call to Arms for Sports Ministry

If Tiger Woods’ personal tragedy can be at all redemptive—and all tragedies potentially can—one way is to call attention to the crucial need for spiritual ministry to athletes.

A recent ESPN panel discussion about Woods’ troubles identified a common temptation lurking outside many locker rooms. While not condoning his behavior, the panel noted that male athletes at all levels are routinely pursued by women ready to “throw themselves at them.” For those who view sex as merely a physical and recreational activity, anyone in top physical shape (and especially one with notoriety) becomes a prized trophy. For many athletes the temptation is irresistible, and real life consequences are not anticipated when it seems like only a game.

Yet what ultimately drives anyone seeking these kinds of encounters is not so much physical desire, but an underlying spiritual emptiness desperately seeking gratification at the physical level. Sexual union is ultimately a sign and experience of union with God. Its mutated variations are simply misdirected searches for what ultimately satisfies the human spirit. No less a sexual adventurer than St. Augustine eventually learned that the heart remains restless until it rests in God; all other means of seeking fulfillment—even if temporarily satisfying—cannot fill that emptiness.

Athletics hold enormous influence in our culture. While in their pure form they benefit humanity in many ways, they do have some latent hedonistic dangers. Any activity that is intensely physical and competitive runs the risk of glorifying both the body and the individual self far beyond their relative importance.

The good news is that sports are far more than a physical activity—they are intensely spiritual as well. (Ask any golfer what is more satisfying about a beautiful tee shot—the physical sensation of swinging the club or the exhilaration of watching their shot sail straight down the fairway. Or ask a football player what makes the intense physical pain of Monday morning worthwhile.) So when the spirit of an athlete is fed, the union of body and spirit (which is the essence of humanity) is magnified, and can be placed at the service of society.

Physical training is readily provided to athletes by coaches and trainers. Spiritual conditioning is just as important—if not more so—but may not be as available. If athletes are to become whole persons, not just hard bodies, the spirit must be nourished at the same time. Just as their physical accomplishments make an impression on others outside the locker room, so can their spiritual beauty if given a chance to grow.

At the sight of the crowds, [Jesus’] heart was moved with pity for them because they troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38)

It is in this spirit, and as part of this mission, that I launch this blog. As a proud member of Catholic Athletes for Christ, whose mission is to evangelize the world of sports, it is my prayer not only that Tiger Woods and his family be healed and redeemed through this difficulty, but that the efforts of all who minister to athletes will be renewed, their numbers will grow, and they will respond to the urgency which this situation reveals.